Sunday, 23 February 2014

The influence of the gut microbiota on neurology

We
live with millions of microorganisms and these bacteria influence many aspects
of our physiology. There is tantalizing evidence that our gut microbiota can
influence our state of mind — affecting mood and behavior.

In
the current issue of Cell, scientists reported evidences that link gut microbes
to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in a mouse model. They show that
compositional and structural shifts of microbes and associated metabolites can
trigger ASD symptoms, indicating gut microbiota can modulate behavioral and
physiological abnormalities associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (Cell
155, 1451–1463, December 19, 2013).